| West Fork Little Kanawha River | |
| Map: | West Fork Little Kanawha River map.png |
| Map Size: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 300 |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | United States |
| Subdivision Type2: | State |
| Subdivision Name2: | West Virginia |
| Subdivision Type3: | Counties |
| Subdivision Name3: | Clay, Calhoun, Roane, Wirt |
| Length: | 48.1miles |
| Discharge1 Location: | Rocksdale |
| Discharge1 Min: | 0cuft/s |
| Discharge1 Max: | 20200cuft/s |
| Source1 Location: | southwest of Nebo, northern Clay County |
| Source1 Coordinates: | 38.6184°N -81.054°W[1] |
| Source1 Elevation: | 1178feet[2] |
| Mouth: | Little Kanawha River |
| Mouth Location: | Creston, Wirt County |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 38.9473°N -81.2718°W |
| Mouth Elevation: | 623feet |
| Basin Size: | 246sqmi |
| Tributaries Left: | Left Fork West Fork Little Kanawha River |
| Tributaries Right: | Henry Fork |
The West Fork Little Kanawha River is a tributary of the Little Kanawha River, 48.1miles long,[3] in west-central West Virginia in the United States. Via the Little Kanawha and Ohio rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of 246sqmi[4] in a rural region on the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau. By drainage area, it is the second-largest tributary of the Little Kanawha River, after the Hughes River.[4]
The West Fork rises southwest of the community of Nebo in northern Clay County and flows generally north-northwestward through Calhoun County and along a portion of Calhoun County's western boundary with Roane and Wirt counties, through the communities of Nebo, Stinson, Chloe, Minnora, Orma, Arnoldsburg, and Rocksdale, to its mouth at Creston in southeastern Wirt County, where it flows into the Little Kanawha River from the south. For most of its course upstream of Arnoldsburg, it is paralleled by West Virginia Route 16; for a short distance downstream of Arnoldsburg, it is paralleled by U.S. Route 33.[5]
Among the West Fork's tributaries are the Left Fork West Fork Little Kanawha River, which it collects at Orma; and the Henry Fork, which it collects along the boundary of Roane and Calhoun counties.[5]
According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, approximately 91% of the West Fork's watershed is forested, mostly deciduous. Approximately 8.8% is used for pasture and agriculture.[4]
At the United States Geological Survey's stream gauge on the West Fork at Rocksdale, downstream of the mouth of the Henry Fork, the highest recorded flow during the period 1928–2009 was 20,200 ft³/s (572 m³/s) on April 16, 1939. Periods of no flow were recorded at times during several years.[6]